I hired a professional actor to pretend to be my boyfriend after my ex announced he was bringing the younger woman he left me for to our son’s pool party. He burst out laughing the moment he saw us together—but seconds later, one tiny gift box erased that smile in front of everyone.

The house felt unnaturally silent that morning.

It reminded me how empty twenty years of shared memories could become.

My fingers brushed the kitchen counter where Jordan used to leave his coffee mug every morning.

Four children.

One marriage.

One future I believed would last forever.

I picked up an old framed photograph from the shelf.

For a long moment, I studied the woman smiling beside the man she completely trusted.

“Mom, are you crying again?”

My oldest daughter stood in the doorway with her hair tied back, concern written across her face.

“I’m fine, sweetheart. Just remembering.”

“You always say that.”

I returned the picture to its place and forced a smile that felt heavier than ever.

“Because it’s always true. Now come help me. Your brother has a thousand ideas for this pool party, and I need backup.”

She walked over and wrapped her arms around me.

For a few seconds, I allowed myself to lean into the comfort.

Then my son rushed into the kitchen carrying a wrinkled guest list.

“Mom, I want everyone there. The whole family, my friends from school, the neighbors. Everyone.”

“It’s my fifteenth birthday. It’s important.”

His excitement reminded me of the boy he had been before the divorce changed everything.

“Then everyone it is.”

He hesitated before asking the question that landed like a stone in my chest.

“He’s still your father. Of course.”

My son nodded slowly.

“Okay. Thanks, Mom… Do you think he’ll actually come?”

I couldn’t answer.

Since leaving us for his mistress, Jordan had missed far too much of our children’s lives.

My son nodded anyway and hurried away, still clutching his list.

My daughter remained behind.

She studied me the way she watched storm clouds gathering over the ocean.

“You know he might bring her. If he comes.”

“I know.”

The truth was, I wasn’t ready.

I hadn’t been ready since the afternoon I stood in our bedroom holding our six-month-old baby while Jordan calmly destroyed our marriage.

“I’m with Percy now. We’ve been together for over a year. I don’t want to waste any more time on a woman who’s no longer attractive to me.”

I still remembered the baby shifting against my shoulder.

I remembered locking my knees so I wouldn’t collapse.

I forced myself back to the present.

“I’m okay, honey. Really. Your brother deserves a perfect day, and I’m going to give it to him.”

“Promise?”

She kissed my cheek before leaving.

I stood alone again, mentally running through decorations, food, shopping, and everything else I needed to organize while pretending my heart wasn’t breaking.

First, I had to invite Jordan.

I texted him.

“Ethan wants the whole family there.”

Not long afterward, my phone buzzed.

Jordan.

Even seeing his name made my stomach tighten.

His reply was short.

Cold.

I read it several times before the meaning fully settled in.

My chest tightened.

I set my phone beside the counter and stared toward the swimming pool, struggling to breathe.

“Mom, are you okay?”

Ethan stood in the doorway, his wet hair dripping onto his T-shirt.

I smiled for his sake.

He looked at me longer than I wanted.

Then he quietly returned outside.

That look broke something inside me.

I couldn’t let Jordan arrive with Percy and make me look like the abandoned wife in front of my children and every neighbor who had watched our family grow over two decades.

I opened my laptop.

For the first time in my life, I searched for a fake boyfriend.

A talent agency downtown answered within the hour.

The woman sounded completely professional.

As though hiring someone to pretend to love you happened every day.

“Just for a few hours,” I explained. “He doesn’t have to do much. Just stand beside me. Smile.”

“Of course. He’ll play whatever role you need.”

After hanging up, I rested both hands on the kitchen counter.

Somehow I had become a woman paying a stranger to make it look as though she was still wanted.

—

We met at a coffee shop the afternoon before the party.

I arrived early, ordered nothing, and shredded a paper napkin while waiting.

When Clark entered, I instinctively looked behind him, convinced someone that attractive had to be meeting someone else.

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